What do you do to keep your toddler busy during the winter when it gets dark super early or it's cold outside, limiting outdoor time? I've got a 2yo boy that's full of energy 😮‍💨

When my kids were little we set up an obstacle course, with variations, everyday. There was a fitness ladder, low hurdles, plastic egg/spoon game, ball toss into a bucket (foam ball), cones to run around, etc.

Indoor play areas, children’s museums, pikler triangle/ climbing toys, open swim at the community pool, bundle up and still go outside

Following. I too, need ideas. Yesterday my son was BEGGING me to “play soccer” (he’s 3) outside. 5:30PM and it may as well have been midnight it was so dark and cold. We bundle up, go outside and he proceeds to sit on said soccer ball to “watch for cars” (I’ve been teaching him to get out of the street when a car comes) . So there I am, freezing my ass off watching my son sit on a ball hoping at least the fresh air will tire him out for bedtime. #boymom

We go to Target. We never buy anything, but we play with the toys (with great supervision to make sure he doesn’t damage anything). It’s on our way home from daycare, so it’s an easy place for him to get out some energy outside of our 2 bed apartment.

During the day? Invest in a Children's Museum membership or a trampoline park membership....somewhere you can get out of the house anytime you want to without paying each time. For evenings/in the house? Something they can build/climb/jump on. We have a corner couch that all the bottom and back cushions come off of, so 12 big cushions plus pillows. It has provided hours and hours of fort building, climbing, jumping entertainment for my 3 boys. If you don't need a new couch, there are mats and padded building pieces you can get for a similar effect.

We take a weekly trip to Petsmart to see the fish, birds, etc. And a sensory bin full of pinto beans and construction vehicles was a huge hit at two.

We invested in a bounce house for inside with a small slide off Amazon. Easy to store away and kids loved it. They still use it 3 years later in the winter at 6 and 4.

My daughter loves IKEA so we take her there. It's not even a location with a ball pit😅 other than that there have been more and more indoor playgrounds popping up in my area so I want to take her there too but I imagine it will get busy as it gets colder.